Multi robot system and method for intermodal container transport

ABSTRACT

A system and method for intermodal container transport that utilizes swarm intelligence and the autonomous locating, lifting, supporting and moving via robots working in conjunction. A port central command locates and releases robots to the container location and then transports the container to its destination.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/541,018 filed Aug. 3, 2017 and U.S. Non-Provisionalpatent application Ser. No. 16/051,017 filed Jul. 31, 2018, both ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION I. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates generally to the transfer and movement ofinternational shipping containers in port and transfer terminalfacilities. More particularly, it relates to the autonomous movement ofthese containers through the use of multiple robots to optimizelogistics at such port and transfer terminals.

II. Description of the Prior Art

Intermodal containers, typically used for the worldwide transport offreight, are manufactured according to specifications from theInternational Organization for Standardization (ISO), and are thereforesuitable for multiple transportation methods such as truck, rail, orship. Intermodal containers can be up to 53 feet (16.15 meters) long andcan weigh in the range of 35-40 tons (31.8-36.3 metric tons) when fullyloaded.

There is a plethora of cargo shipped, staged and stored within suchcontainers throughout the world on a daily basis. In particular,approximately 90% of non-bulk cargo worldwide is transported via suchintermodal shipping containers arranged on ships. It is established thatalmost a trillion dollars of this cargo goes through American portsyearly. Indeed, as more and more countries join the importing/exportingof cargo, some ports can regularly receive ships carrying up to 14,000intermodal containers. Unfortunately, most ports, are in no way capableof handling such volume. In fact, the recent increase in containerreceptions along with the outdated infrastructure of these port systemshas led to domestic economic losses of up to 37 billion dollars.

This incredible amount of shipping activity more often than not leads toextreme backups, and accordingly, the aforementioned economic lossesstemming from port inefficiencies. This inefficiency primarily comesfrom the outdated usage of trucks and drivers to move containers fromthe ship to the staging and storing areas. It is not atypical for thesedrivers to sometimes wait for up to eight hours in line to move onecontainer. As they are generally paid on a per container basis, thisleads to a shortage of labor in the industry as drivers are discouragedfrom working at this slow of a pace.

When these containers arrive at ports (either by land or by sea) theymust be transferred onto or from the ships, trains, and trucks.Transferring containers from one mode of transportation to another istime and energy intensive. For example, transferring these ISOcontainers from ships consumes a large amount of time and often leads toport congestion and container backlog as they are often conducted at theground level with various mechanical machines such as cranes, trucks,forklifts, and straddle carriers. Furthermore, the current methods oftransferring intermodal shipping containers require a large amount ofground space for maneuvering the containers into place, and ground spaceis a premium at and around these busy ports.

More specifically, current port systems consist of a ship to shore cranewhich brings the containers to a staging area near the ship. Thesecontainers are then loaded by crane onto a pedestrian controlled truckchassis which transports the container to a storage area where it awaitsfurther movement. An inland crane then stacks the containers until theyare ready to be transported out of the port. The inefficiency comes whentruck chassis are backed up and form a traffic jam as the drivers waitfor their load to be taken. The wait time leads to economic loss andenvironmental damage as many of these trucks are not environmentallyfriendly and are generally older trucks that have been regulated to theshort transport throughout a port.

To alleviate some of these problems, the use of overhead rail transportsystems have been suggested. Such an overhead monorail solution providesadvantages that would significantly improve container port operations.However, such a system is not without its challenges. One challenge, inparticular, includes the limited positioning capabilities of containerswith such an overhead rail. More specifically, container positioning islimited to such spaces throughout the port wherein a rail is overhead.

What is needed is a carrier system for efficient handling andtransferring of ISO containers from one form of transportation toanother and transporting such containers from one area to another (e.g.port area to island terminals). What is further needed is a systemsuited for close tolerance positioning and alignment of containers.Specifically, what is needed is a system of swarm robots who work inconjunction to transport the intermodal containers throughout the port.The system will bring efficiency to the ports while also utilizing lowemission drive systems, hereby lowering the environmental impact of thecurrent ports.

Accordingly, it is a general object of this disclosure to providesystems, methods and apparatuses for addressing the deficiencies of thecurrent practices regarding issues associated with intermodal containertransfer and movement.

It is a general object of this disclosure to provide systems, methodsand apparatuses that are simple, easy to use and familiar for port andtransfer facility use.

It is another general object of this disclosure to provide costeffective systems, methods and apparatuses in swarm intelligence totransport intermodal containers throughout the port.

It is more specific object of this disclosure to provide multi robotsystems, methods and apparatuses for intermodal container transport.

It is another more specific object of this disclosure to providesystems, methods and apparatuses for close tolerance positioning andalignment of intermodal containers.

It is yet another specific object of this disclosure to provide multirobot systems, methods and apparatuses for simultaneous multipleintermodal container transport.

A further object of this disclosure is to provide multi robot systems,methods and apparatuses in communication with automated port systems.

A further object of this disclosure is to provide a robotic system incommunication with a port tracking system for intermodal containers

These and other objects, features and advantages of this disclosure willbe clearly understood through a consideration of the following detaileddescription.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is providedan autonomous robot for transport of an intermodal container positionedon a support surface and having corner castings, the robot includes acentral processing unit for movement over the surface, a corner castingfor engaging the container, and a lifting mechanism for lifting theengagement member and accordingly the container off of the supportsurface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be more fully understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments whenread in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which likereference characters refer to like parts throughout the views and inwhich:

FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a robot according to the principles ofan embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1B is an enlarged view of the outer bearing and motorized wheel ofthe robot of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2 is a simplified logistic flow diagram of a communication networkbetween robots and a server according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a simplified logistic flow diagram of the communicationsbetween hardware components according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a simplified logic flow diagram of a safety and obstacleavoidance protocol of a robot according to the principles of anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a simplified logic flow diagram of a container corner locationand locking by a robot according to the principles of an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the robot of FIG. 1 locking into thecorner of the container.

FIG. 7A is an enlarged perspective view of a twist lock of a robotaccording to the principles of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7B is a side view of the twist lock of FIG. 7A.

FIG. 7C is a top plan view of the side lock of FIG. 7A.

FIG. 7D is a perspective view of a twist lock and holder of a robotaccording to the principles of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7E is a side view of the twist lock and holder of FIG. 7D.

FIG. 8A is an enlarged perspective view of a lock assembly of a robotaccording to the principles of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8B is a perspective view of the lock piece of FIG. 8A.

FIG. 8C is a top plan view of the lock assembly of FIG. 8A.

FIG. 8D is a top plan view of the lock piece of FIG. 8B.

FIG. 8E is a rear side view of the lock assembly of FIG. 8A.

FIG. 8F is a rear side view of the lock piece of FIG. 8B.

FIG. 9A is a perspective view of a lift assembly of a robot according tothe principles of an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9B is a perspective view of the lift assembly of FIG. 9A with ahousing removed to illustrate a twist lock holder.

FIG. 9C is a side view of the lift assembly of FIG. 9B.

FIG. 9D is a front view of the lift assembly of FIG. 9A.

FIG. 10A is a perspective view of the lift system of the robot of FIG.1.

FIG. 10B is a rear perspective view of the lift system of FIG. 10A.

FIG. 10C is a side view of the lift system of FIG. 10A.

FIG. 11A is a perspective view of the support system of the robot ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 11B is a rear perspective view of the support system of FIG. 11A.

FIG. 11C is a side view of the support system of FIG. 11A.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of multiple robots of FIG. 1 engaged witha container.

FIG. 13 is a top plan view of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a top plan view of FIG. 12 with the robots at an internaldrive train angle of forty-five degrees.

FIG. 15 is a bottom perspective view of FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a simplistic logic flow diagram of the swarm pathfinding ofthe robots according to the principles of an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 17A is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a robotaccording to the principles of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17B is a frontal view of the robot of FIG. 17A.

FIG. 17C is a rear view of the robot of FIG. 17A.

FIG. 17D is a side view of the robot of FIG. 17A.

FIG. 18A is perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a robot drivesystem according to the principles of the present disclosure.

FIG. 18B is an enlarged view of the drive system of the robot of FIG.18A.

FIG. 18C is a bottom perspective view of the robot of FIG. 18A.

FIG. 18D is a side view of the robot of FIG. 18A.

FIG. 19A is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a twistlock according to the principles of the present disclosure.

FIG. 19B is a front view of the twist lock of FIG. 19A.

FIG. 19C is a side view of the twist lock of FIG. 19A.

FIG. 19D is a top view of the twist lock of FIG. 19A.

FIG. 20A is a perspective view of an alternate lift mechanism with twistlock according to the principles of the present disclosure.

FIG. 20B is a side view of the mechanism of FIG. 20A.

FIG. 20C is a front view of the mechanism of FIG. 20A.

FIG. 21 is a simplistic logic flow diagram of the lifting procedures ofthe robots according to an embodiment of the principles of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 22A is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a swerveassembly according to the principles of the present disclosure.

FIG. 22B is a top view of the swerve assembly of FIG. 22A.

FIG. 22C is a front view of the swerve assembly of FIG. 22A.

FIG. 22D is a side view of the swerve assembly of FIG. 22A.

FIG. 22E is an enlarged view of Section E of the swerve assembly of FIG.22D.

FIG. 23A is a perspective view of another alternate embodiment of aswerve drive according to the principles of the present disclosure.

FIG. 23B is a front view of the swerve drive of FIG. 23A.

FIG. 23C is a side view of the swerve drive of FIG. 23A.

FIG. 23D is a bottom view of the swerve drive of FIG. 23A.

FIG. 24A is half of a simplified overall electrical layout of a robotaccording to the principles of the present disclosure.

FIG. 24B is the other half of the layout of FIG. 24A.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description of the preferred embodiments is merelyexemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the disclosure,its application or use. These exemplars are merely used to betterdescribe the true spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

The present multi robot system for intermodal container transportincludes robots working together to locate, engage, lift and moveshipping containers. However, it will be understood that the swarmintelligence system as disclosed herein is in no way limited to shipyardshipping containers and ports, nor with such ISO intermodal containers.Indeed, the system can be used for any type of container distributionand transport to further transport or storage (i.e. warehouse,distribution center, etc.).

In any event, and in keeping with the shipyard and port example, a portis typically both extremely busy and congested. Any number of containersare stored and/or are being transported at any given time while at thesame time any number of ships are delivering even more containers thatalso have to be transported and perhaps stored. Accordingly, each porthas an accounting and positioning system for keeping track of eachcontainer. So, as each container is removed from the ship (via crane orotherwise) and is placed on the ground (or another container supportsurface) to await further transport, the port accounting and positioningsystem, whether fully automated, partially automated or otherwisedetermines when and how the new container is transported.

The system of the present disclosure now makes possible the completeautomation of, for example, container ports, rail yards and distributioncenters. Essentially, the system optimizes port (for example) movementthrough the autonomous movement of containers via multiple robots. It isa heavy-payload multi-robotic system for moving international shippingcontainers. In the abstract, a system of robots work in conjunction tolift and transport a standard intermodal shipping container. Such robotsmay include wheels; a drive system/module controlled by a centralprocessing unit; a lift mechanism; a locking mechanism to connect to acorner of the container; a communications system/module coupled to anexternal command center; and a communication system between robots.

Turning now to the drawings, and in particular FIG. 1A, a robot 10according to the principles of an embodiment of the present disclosureis illustrated. The robot 10 includes a lift assembly 12, drive motors14, drive wheels 16 and container supports 18. In use, the drive motors14 control the movement of the drive wheels 16 to propel the robot 10,and the lift assembly 12 lifts a container by connecting to the cornercasting of the container and resting the container on the supports 18.Caster wheels 20 are coupled to the frame plate 22 of the robot and bothhelp with support and movement.

The enlarged view of FIG. 1B better illustrates the outer bearing andmotorized wheel 16 of the robot 10 of FIG. 1A. The wheel 16 assemblyincludes a hub 24, a shaft collar 26, a drive bearing 28, a drive shaft30, an outer race 32, a plate (or swivel) bearing 34, an inner race 36and bolts 38 to secure the bearing to the plate. The outer race 32 is abase plate that holds the lift system 12 and caster wheels 20, while theinner race 36 is a circular baseplate, inside the circle of the outerrace 32, that holds the drive system 14 and the battery rack. In use,the swivel bearing 34 allows the outer race 32 and attached liftmechanism 12 to rotate independent of the inner race 36 and the drivesubsystem and enables zero degree turns.

When an ISO container, for example, is removed from the ship andinitially positioned on the ground or other support surface of the port,it then needs to get transported to the appropriate destination. Thepresent system can accomplish control of this transport of a containerfrom a start (initial, etc.) position/location to a stop (final,storage, etc.) position/location in a number of ways. It can be donethrough the use of a central processor, either alone or in cooperationwith the port location accounting and positioning system and with orwithout human operation. It can also be done through the robots doingall of the algorithms, the so-called distributed method instead ofcentral processing method. In any event, both methods will be using thecollective intelligence of multiple robots working together to transportthe containers.

In certain environments, traditional wireless based systems areineffective due to, for example, obstructions (i.e. metal shippingcontainers), which deteriorates the quality of the wireless signals. Asa result, extra latency and packet loss may occur, which can bedetrimental to critical robotic systems. An embodiment of the presentdisclosure utilizes a mesh wireless system to increase signal resiliencyin environments that would otherwise render wireless systems useless. Acentral command server communicates with the closest robot, which isthen responsible for commanding other nearby robots to perform a commontask. The robots directly communicate with each other through theso-called wireless mesh system, with server communications being donethrough the closest robot.

More specifically and referring now to the logic flow diagram of FIG. 2,a network diagram 40 is illustrated. First, upon delivery of thecontainer from the ship, a job request is submitted 42 in the centralcommand server, and the central command server locates 44 availablerobots and determines 46 if enough are available to complete the job. Ifnot, the server looks again 44. If there are enough robots, a jobrequest is sent 48 to the closest robot and the first (closest) robotestablishes connections (communications) 50 with the other robots. Therobots then communicate with each other and synchronize 52 theirprogress while the first robot maintains the connection 54 to thecentral command server. The network determines 56 if the first robot canmaintain a connection with the server. If so, the job is continued withprogress relayed 58 to the central command center. If not, it isdetermined 60 whether a job is in progress. If a job is not in progressthe robot stops 62 moving and attempts to re-establish the connection tothe server. If a job is in progress, the robots finish 64 the currentjob and attempt to re-establish the connection to the server.

Furthermore, and as illustrated in the exemplar network map 66 of thelogic flow communications of FIG. 3, the network map 66 showcases howthe hardware communicates with each other. All of the given standardsand connections (e.g. WiFi, PWM, Ethernet, Serial Bus, Bluetooth, etc.)may be used and it will be understood that connection methods and modesare subject to advance and change so long as the communications arebetween a server and a robot through other robots. In other words, thesystem is able to bounce the signal from one robot to another until acommunication reaches the intended target. Use of this mesh also enablesthe robots to directly communicate with one another when performingmovements and actions that require swarm intelligence and communication.

Robots may be assigned to teams of two, three or four, for example, withone so-called “lead” robot per team. The lead robot will be responsiblefor talking with the server and instructing the other robots. The leadrobot will be continuously and constantly communicating with the masterserver while it is powered on. The lead robot will send a status packetto the master server in each control cycle. The status packet willcontain all necessary information that both the master server needs toknow in order to assign jobs, as well as information that a port-sideoperator would need to see. The exact data to be transmitted is outlinedin the implementation. During each control cycle, the other so-called“slave” robot(s) in a group will send a status packet to the lead robotcontaining all necessary information the lead robot will need to know.During each control cycle, the lead robot will send a status packet tothe slave robot(s).

The network map 66 includes a server 68 in wireless (WiFi or Bluetooth)communications with a central router 70 in wireless (WiFi or Bluetooth)communications with a wireless bridge 72 in wireless ((WiFi orBluetooth) communications with a first robot 74, a second robot 76, athird robot 78 (if applicable) and a forth robot 80 (if applicable),etc. The wireless bridge 72 is in communications (i.e. Ethernet) with amesh computer (e.g. LiDAR) 74 for vision as well as with a main CPU(e.g. Rasberry Pi) 76. The main CPU 76 is further in communications(i.e. Serial Bus) with a secondary processing unit (e.g. Arduino) 78which is in communications (i.e. Digital) with a non-mesh computervision (e.g. Ultra-Sonics) 80. The main CPU 76 is also further incommunications (i.e. PWM) with the variable frequency drive motorcontrollers 82.

Turning now to FIG. 4 and the robot safety and obstacle avoidanceprotocol 84, the robots path to and from a job request (or otherwise) isillustrated. While the robot is moving it is always scanning itsenvironment and although it started its trek with a precise path itneeds to be capable of altering that path in the event of environmentalcircumstance. Accordingly, should a robot encounter an object 86 withina variable distance (i.e. x meters) the obstacle avoidance procedure isinitiated 88. Depending upon the environment, the robot chooses adirection to drive around 90 the object, scans the object boundary 92,plots a path 94 at least d meters (variable) away from the objectboundaries and then follows that detour path 96. The robot thendetermines whether the path is still blocked 98. If it is, the robotscans 92, plots 94 and follows the detour path 96 again. If it is notblocked, the robot resumes navigation to the destination 100.

One of the goals of the present disclosure is to autonomously transportcontainers. As such, the robots need to target a part of the containerto engage, lift, support and transport. In the present example of an ISOintermodal container the robot needs to locate and target a containercorner casting. This algorithm is illustrated in the container cornerfind/lock protocol 102 of FIG. 5. This algorithm takes the robots frombeing assigned to a corner of the container to actually targeting andlocking onto the container corner casting. Critical to this embodimentis how corners and edges are identified. This can be accomplished viaLiDAR point data on a 2D field, for example.

By way of example, robots are assigned 104 to a container and eachnavigate 106 thereto. During navigation it is determined 108 whether GPSand/or NAVIS (or the like) can improve navigation accuracy. If so, it isutilized to navigate 106. If not, then the robot arrives and scans 110the container. LiDAR data is collected 112 by the robot and then data isshared 114 between all the robots. In order to find an edge each datapoint is connected to its nearest, second nearest and nth nearest point116. All connections greater than x (variable) are pruned 118,independent meshes of points are identified 120 and an arbitrary pointin the mesh is chosen 122. The point and next closest point to theprevious one is appended to a linear regression 124. It is thendetermined whether successive appends result in a change in“r{circumflex over ( )}2>b” 126. If not then the robot scans again 110.If so, then an edge has been found 128. It is then determined whetherall four edges of the container have been found 130 by the robots. Ifnot, then an arbitrary point in the mesh is chosen 122 again. If so,then the robots move to rough corner locations 132. The robot thendisplaces 134 itself from the geometric corner of the container beforeentering the control loop feedback 136 steps. The robot uses stereocameras, LiDAR and Ultrasonics to verify 138 locations and determines140 whether the corner castings line up. If not, the PID loop is run andlocations are verified 138. If so, PID is exited 142 and the robot movesforward to engage 144 the container with the twist-lock. The algorithmthen waits for all robots to lock 146 and determines whether they haveall locked in 148. If not, the system continues to wait 146. If so, thenthe container is lifted 150.

Referring now to FIG. 6, the robot 10 is shown engaged with a cornercasting 152. It will be appreciated that for illustrational purposesonly the corner casting 152 (and not the container as a whole) is shown;and that each container includes four corner castings that each have twoapertures 154. In any event, the lift assembly 12 locks into the cornercasting and lifts the container without explicit human command.

The twisklock and holder of the lift assembly 12 will now be describedas shown in FIGS. 7A-E. Essentially, the element includes a twistlock156 (FIGS. 7A-C) and a twistlock holder 158. The twistlock includes anengaging end 160, a cylindrical member 162 with a collar 164 and a stop166; while the holder includes a horizontal support 168 and an arm 170.In use, the engaging end 160 is inserted into the aperture 154 (FIG. 6)of the corner casting and rotated ninety (90) degrees (FIG. 7C) to locktherein with the holder shaped to distribute the force of the weight ofthe corner casting and intermodal container when lifted.

When the container is properly located and locked by four robots, therobots lift the container together, move their supports under eachcorner and then lower the container onto their supports. Before therobots then move the container as one, the horizontal movement of thelift system on the robot chassis is preferably locked. That said, andreferring now to FIGS. 8A-F, an embodiment of the lock assembly 172 isshown. The lock assembly includes a lock housing 174, a lock piece 176and a motor 178. The lock housing 172 keep the motor 178 and lock piece176 together. The lock piece is shaped to stop the lift assembly frommoving in one direction and allow it to slide by when it moves in theopposite direction. Specifically, and referring to FIG. 8C, it is therounded edge 180 that allows the lift system to slide by, and theopposite flat edge 182 stops the lift system from sliding any further.The ridges (teeth) 184 on the lock piece 176 allow it to move accordingto the movement of the motor gear 186.

Turning back to the lift system assembly 12, FIGS. 9A-D illustrate theattachment to the corner casting of an intermodal container and liftingthe container up and onto the chassis of the robot. The twistlock holder158, and in turn the twisklock 156 is connected to the vertical liftrail carriage 188 which in turn is coupled to the vertical lift rail 190which allows the twisklock holder 158 to move up and down via screwjack192. The lift system assembly 12 further includes a horizontal roundrail carriage 194 that rides a horizontal round rail 196. The lifthousing 198 keeps the screwjack 192 and the vertical lift together anduses the round rail carriage 194 underneath it to move on the roundrails 196 that allow the lift housing 198 to move forward and back onthe robot 10.

FIGS. 10A-C are multiple views of the lift system described in FIGS.9A-D raising the corner casting of an intermodal container. As therobots connect to the bottom corner castings 152 of the intermodalcontainer, the lift systems work autonomously and simultaneously to liftthe corner casting from the ground to the lift maximum height. The robotuses the twistlock to hold onto the corner casting and is able to liftthe weight of the corner casting because of the lift system and thetwistlock holder. The jack lift and the twistlock holder are able toresist and lift the weight of the corner casting without bending orbreaking.

Similarly, FIGS. 11A-C are multiple views of the robot lifting thecorner castings onto a support block 18. Once the container is liftedand the lift assembly rides the rails inward, the robot lowers thecorner castings onto a support column. The weight of the container willrest on the base plate but stability parallel to the ground will bemaintained through the lift mechanism body.

FIG. 12 is an aerial perspective view of the robots 10 connecting to thecorner castings 152 of an intermodal container 200 with the twisklock.The robots lock into the corner castings and after the robots haveconfirmed that all the twistlocks are secured they lift the container200 simultaneously. In this configuration, the robots are able to liftand carry the container. Depending on the orientation of the wheels, therobot will be able to turn the container in any direction. FIG. 13 is atop plan view of the robots 10 of FIG. 12 locked into a shippingcontainer 200 with their wheels 16 in an orientation for movingforward/backward. FIGS. 14 and 15 show the four robots 10 holding ashipping container 200 with the internal drive train at an angle offorty-five (45) degrees (just one of the many possible configurationspossible with the internal rotating drive train). This particularconfiguration allows a sharp ninety (90) degree turn.

It will be appreciated that a single robot may include more than oneengagement and/or lift mechanism. In other words, and for example, whilethe Figures have thus far illustrated robots with a single twist lock,they may include two twist locks. Accordingly, one larger robot may becapable of engaging and locking and lifting two corners of theintermodal container. In such embodiments, the container can betransported with two, three or four robots.

In any event, after the robots have the subject container locked, liftedand supported, they are ready to collaborate with one another andtransport it to the determined destination. FIG. 16 illustrates how therobots, when tied together on a container, follow a path generated bythe main control server. This swarm pathfinding algorithm 202 allows theoptimized movement along the path using swerve modules. This algorithm202 splits the given path into four separate paths for each of theindividual robots. The algorithm further prevents putting more stress onany single robot drive train. The algorithm starts with obtaining thepath and heading list 204 for the container. Each element of the listshould contain an x and y coordinate along with a heading expressed asan angle θ between 0 and 2Pi. With those elements it begins generating206 four (for example) paths of the robots. The next point 208 in thepath is obtained and it is determined 210 if the point on the headingfunction is continuous. If not, all robots stop at that point, rotatethe container and continue 212. If so, it is determined 214 whether thepoint on the position function differentiable. If not, all robots stopat that point, rotate the container and continue 216. If so, thealgorithm calculates u and v respectively 218, whereinu=(w*cos(θ),w*(θ)) v=(l*sin(θ)),l*cos(θ)) with w being half the width ofthe container 220 and l being half the length of the container 222. Thealgorithm then calculates {x_(r)y_(r)}={x_(e),y_(e)}±u±v 224 which isthe position of the robot on the container 226. The robots then navigateto the point using a proportional integral derivative (PID) 228.

Mapping is continuous with robot power and will be accomplished bothwhen the robots are moving a container together and when they aretraveling individually. When moving a container, each group of robotsshare their own local map (e.g. a 2D map of their immediatesurroundings). The robots rely on this map to avoid unexpected obstaclesthat the port-side software would not report. The lead robot receives a2D point map from each slave robot with each control cycle. During eachcontrol cycle, the lead robot will consolidate and average the four (forexample) individual robot maps into one 2D map. The lead robot will thenmake decisions based on this averaged map such as instructing the robot“team” to stop when a person walks by. When moving individually, everyrobot will generate a local map when moving individually and the robotwill make decisions based on this local map generated from sensor data.

It will be understood that alternate embodiments of robots andfeatures/elements thereof may be used with the system for intermodalcontainer transport. For example, FIGS. 17A-D illustrate a full assemblyof an alternate embodiment wherein the lift assembly 230 is used to liftan intermodal container by connecting to the corner casting. A batteryrack 232 provides power for the electronic and mechanical systems; andholds an inverter 234 on the top shelf and four batteries 236 on the twoshelves below. Alternatively, this embodiment, and indeed all robotembodiments may be powered by a combustible engine source, a hybrid gasand battery configuration or any other applicable power source. In anyevent, the drive motors 238 control the movement of the drive wheels 240and the caster wheels 242 are used to support the front of the robot andalso allow for movement.

The drive system of the robot of FIGS. 17A-D is illustrated in FIGS.18A-18D. In particular, the drive motor 242 controls the movement of thedrive wheels 244 through the coupled VFD 246. The caster wheels 248 areused to support the front of the robot and the caster plate 250 isattached to threaded rods 252 that are used to change the height of thecaster wheels 248 to allow both the casters and drive wheels to be atthe same height and to keep the robot level. A closer look at the wheelassembly in FIG. 18B illustrates the hubs 254, the bearing 256 and thedrive wheel 258.

An alternate embodiment of the twist lock 260 assembly (e.g. modifiedSea Box SB 241 twist lock and the like) is illustrated in FIGS. 19A-19D.The twist lock engaging end 262 has an integral gear 264 near its otherend which interfaces with the gear 266 of the motor 268 (e.g. mini-CIMmotor and the like). The gears are respectfully protected with twist 270and motor 272 gear covers. In use the twist lock is inserted into thecorner castings by the robot, the motor rotates the lock 90 degrees andholds it securely in place for subsequent lift/transport.

The lift mechanism 274 that can be used with the twist lock assembly 260of FIG. 19, for example, is illustrated in FIGS. 20A-20C. When fourrobots (for example) connect to four bottom corner castings on ashipping container using the twist lock assembly 260, the container canbe lifted. Once confirmation of a secure lock, the robots willsimultaneously lift the container. The lift mechanism 274 is constructedfrom four bar linkages and will lift the container up, and then move itback onto the robot base 276 so that the weight of the container is overthe center of the robot. As previously noted, the robots are able tolift and carry the container automatically and without explicit humancommand. Once up and supported, the wheels on the robot will be able tomove and carry the container in any direction.

The lifting procedures of the robots of the present disclosure areexemplified in the simplistic flow diagram 278 of FIG. 21. Inparticular, at robot power up 280, the mechanism goes to home positionand an idle state. Once a command to lock into a container is received,the robot attempts to lock 282. The locking logic 284 will retry 286 upto three times with the forth fail resulting in an error state report290 to the master. When the robot is locked on it send an all good flag292. If all robots do not get locked on, then an error 294 reportingsuch lock on failure is sent. Once all robots pass the lock process 296,the lift logic 298 starts. If there is a mechanical and/or overweightissue, such an error 300 will be reported, otherwise the lift iscompleted and a flag is sent 302 to let the drive motor proceed tolocation. Once arrived, the robots receive the command to lower 304 thecontainer and proceeds through the lowering logic 306. If there is anissue lowering the container, such an error is sent 308, otherwise lowerlift completes 310. The robots then receive the unlock command 312 andproceed through that logic 314. Should an issue occur during unlock,such an error is reported 316, otherwise the robots go idle318 until thenext lock command 282.

An alternate embodiment of the swerve assembly 320 is shown in FIGS. 22a-22E. This module allows the robot to move in any directiontranslationally. Using an independently driven wheel 322 and motor 324driven yaw the robot is capable of exact directional control. The modulefeatures a dog clutch two speed drivetrain 326 that minimizes drive timebetween containers.

Another alternate embodiment of the swerve assembly 328 is shown inFIGS. 23A-23D. This module utilizes an independent drive motor 330 andyaw motor 332 to move the robot in any direction translationally viawheel 334. It has a turret design with the drive motors and wheelsinside. The entire turret can swerve through the outside yaw motor.

The overall electrical layout of an embodiment of a robot of the presentdisclosure will be shown and described via FIGS. 24A-24B. In particular,the current from the battery 338 is split into two paths via twoterminal blocks 340. One terminal block is to split the power line 342and the other terminal block is to split the ground line 344. One of thesplit paths of the terminal blocks is used to power the breaker board346. The breaker board 346 is there to open the circuit in the event ofany current spikes, which could damage the electronics of the robot. Thebreaker board 346 is then used to power the Talon SRX system (forexample), which includes the motors, motor controllers and wheels. Thebreaker board 346 is also used to power the LIDAR through a transformerto step up the voltage to 32 volts.

The other split path from the terminal blocks is used to power theJetson TX2 (for example) 348. This power is sent through a 5 Amp circuitbreaker 350 and manual toggle switch 352. Next, the voltage is steppedto 19 volts using a transformer 354 before it is converted into a singleline via a barrel-jack breakout 356 and then sent to the Jetson TX2 348.

From the Jetson TX2 348, virtually all the hardware receives theircommands. The LIDAR is connected to the Jetson TX2 348 in order toincrease the amount of hardware that can be connected. This may includea camera 360 for vision processing, a XBEE system 362 forcommunications, and the swerve modules—all connected by USB ports. Theswerve module includes the Gaggeteer 364 and HERO board 366. The HEROboard 366 send commands to the Talon SRX system via CAN protocol.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness ofunderstanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understoodtherefrom. Accordingly, while one or more particular embodiments of thedisclosure have been shown and described, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made thereinwithout departing from the invention if its broader aspects, and,therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changesand modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An autonomous robot for transport of anintermodal container positioned on a support surface and having cornercastings, said robot comprising: a drive module including a centralprocessing unit for moving said robot over said support surface; acorner casting engagement member for engaging a corner casting of saidcontainer; and a lift mechanism for lifting said engagement memberwhereby when said engagement member is engaged with said engaged cornercasting said container is lifted off of said support surface.